PIC: 'Back to the Future' Stars Reunite 25 Years Later

Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and producers reveal what their characters would be like today, their on-set memories -- and if there will be a fourth film

NEW YORK - The Back to the Future team is not planning any sequels or remakes, producer and screenwriter Bob Gale said here Monday.

Speaking at a press event in celebration of the film franchise's 25th anniversary and Tuesday's launch of Universal's Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Trilogy on DVD and Blu-ray, he said: "We don't want to make part four or a remake with new talent" given that the team has seen other franchises go to the well one too many times. "We love Back to the Future
the way it is and don't want to mess with the space-time continuum," he said.

Asked how their lives have changed since the final movie and what they think their characters would be doing now 25 years later, the cast focused on the family aspects.

"Marty [McFly] is a family guy and would do the same thing I do," said star Michael J. Fox in talking about his four kids. Pointing at co-star Christopher Lloyd, he added: "Like he said: It's the kids, Marty." He also quipped that his kids are a handful, but that one of his daughters will be president one day.

Lea Thompson also mentioned her "two beautiful daughters" who were in attendance, calling kids the "greatest thing."
But she said she had "no idea" what her Back to the Future character Lorraine would do now given that she was already seen living in different eras in the trilogy.

Lloyd also highlighted that he has a god son now. What would Doc Brown do today? "I don't think Doc's changed" and would still come up with new inventions - some which would work and others that would fail - until he dies, he said.

Mary Steenburgen said she is happily married with four children, and her on-screen character would be the same. Clara would be "still married to Doc" and flying in and out of the space-time continuum with him, she said.

Meanwhile, director Robert Zemeckis told the press at the Waldorf Astoria in midtown Manhattan that he feels the trilogy "holds up pretty well" when viewed these days, even though advances in camera technique typically make him "cringe a little bit" when he watches his older movies.

Asked what made him realize that the trilogy had become not only a commercial success with nearly $1 billion in box office worldwide, but also a cultural phenomenon, Zemeckis mentioned that the title has become more
than just a title. Instead, it is used to describe anything involving the past coming to the present or old turning new, he said. He also fondly remembered the strong reaction the first screening got.

Fox and the other stars said they never minded being so closely associated with the trilogy, because it was such a positive association. "It made me really famous," and it still makes people smile, Fox said. "Being part of something like this is a privilege."

He also said he loves when people in countries from Bhutan and Thailand to Belfast recognize him. "I love being in Bhutan and someone [goes] "McFly!" And that's the only English word they speak," he said.

Lloyd said he at first dropped the script into a trash can as he felt happy with where he was at the time. But he soon felt glad that someone suggested he at least explore the project.

Zemeckis and his producer colleagues said the trilogy was fun, but also challenging to make, because Fox was still taping TV back then all day before doing the film shoots at night and on weekends.

Asked about props from the films, Thompson shared: "I still have my pink dress from the prom," which her kids tend to try on for Halloween, which always leads her to say they can't wear such an outfit.

Fox said he thinks he still owns a pair of Nike sneakers from the movies, but said he felt he should have tried to buy the guitar McFly played.

Singer Huey Lewis said he had kept nothing, but said he wishes he had kept the glasses he wore in the movie.

The discussion also turned to what parts of the future depicted in the trilogy unfortunately haven't materialized.
Producer Neil Canton cited flying cars and the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series.

But some reporters expressed disappointment that the hoverboard is still no reality.

Zemeckis recalled how his very first digital shot was in Back to the Future Part II and involved Fox on the hoverboard before telling the crowd that his team had hoped the movie "would inspire your generation" to build the board and other inventions.

Fox also recalled the hoverboard as physically challenging as he used to hang from wires and cranes. Once his wife was pregnant, and he had a beeper on while on the hoverboard that he couldn't get to, he remembered. People had no cell phones back then, he quipped.